One way to find a cheap, affordable laptop bargain is to explore the world of used laptops. Unlike refurbished laptops, which are used, returned to the manufacturers, repaired and certified, these 'used laptops' are typically coming straight from their previous owners without any additional measures taken to ensure their stability or integrity. That may seem like a scary prospect, but not every used laptop is a lemon or a scam. There are decent deals to be found among those selling used laptops, provided you approach them with the right information, a skeptical eye, and an adventurous spirit.
In Favor of Buying Used Laptops
Many readers might be wondering why anyone would want to bother with a previously owned laptop to begin with. There primary reason is that they provide the best savings. Most sellers of used laptops understand that they aren't going to recoup what they paid for it and are merely looking to recover some of the money they spent. This leads to exceptionally low prices and excellent deals for the savvy shopper. Buying a second-hand laptop also saves it from heading to the landfill, and helps to keep the planet green.
Used Laptop Shopping Tips
There are a few major ways to find and purchased used laptops, and most involve direct seller-to-shopper interaction. Typically, these include eBay and Craiglist are probably the most common forums for exchanging used laptops. It's very important that you find a seller that you can trust and feel comfortable dealing with. eBay thankfully has a method for evaluating and researching a seller, their feedback rating. With such purchases, it's best to avoid sellers with spotty feedback histories and only go for those with flawless records.
Craigslist is a little trickier. Anyone can post to Craigslist and there's no trail left behind by sellers, so the potential for scams and deceitful deals is higher. That doesn't mean you should avoid Craigslist all together. There are plenty of legitimate people looking to unload their used laptops, too. It just means that you have to keep your eyes and ears open a little more, and be a little more alert. If anything ever seems fishy or a seller isn't entirely forthcoming with information, don't hesitate to back out of the deal.
Never send money before you see and feel the product, and if you need to arrange a meet-up, do so in a comfortable, public setting, allowing for ample time to inspect the product for imperfections or damage.
How to Inspect a Used Laptop
Before you close the deal, give the used laptop a good, long looking over. Start with the obvious part: the body. If the shell of the laptop has any dents, cracks, or other problems, that could be indicative of deeper internal issues. Perhaps it's been dropped or otherwise mistreated. That could have an effect on the hardware inside. If further tests reveal no significant problems resulting from these cosmetic indicators, perhaps you can at least use them as bargaining chips when setting on a final price.
Make sure to check the laptop's display, as a broken LCD display is usually fatal: the cost of fixing or replacing an LCD screen on a laptop is so large that you're better off buying new at that point. Bring some accessories like headphones, a microphone, a CD, a USB device of some kind, and anything else you might be able to stick into the used laptop to see if all its ports and inputs work properly.
Lastly, make sure you really are getting a deal. Don’t just look for what the laptop sold for when it was new; look for how much it costs today. Prices could have dropped significantly over time and you could be basing your desired cost on outdated information.
Used Laptops Online Retailers
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